Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the interjection from the shadow assistant minister for climate change. Maybe he could inform the House sometime later tonight which nation per capita has a higher emissions reduction target than Australia. Is there any answer? Of course not. He knows it's correct: we have the highest emissions reduction target per capita in the world. The Labor Party say: 'That is not enough. We want to make it even higher. We want that 45 per cent emissions reduction target.' What would that do to domestic aviation? How many people do they want to deny the right to fly in Australia? How do they want to reduce it? This is the debate that we should be having. The Labor Party cannot hide behind these feel-good numbers without explaining what effect they will have on each sector of the economy. I would hope during this debate on aviation and the Western Sydney Airport that the Labor Party take the opportunity to tell the Australian citizens how many people they want to deny the right to fly. That is what their policy will result in.

We also have the issue of international air travel. We know that domestic air travel is a major part of our emissions profile. I've got some numbers here from 2016. We had 7. 1 million Australians fly domestically for leisure and travel. But 5.3 million Australians actually flew overseas for holidays. For business domestically, it was 2.1 million Australians. But 628,000 Australians flew overseas for business. If you look at the average flight internally in Australia—it might be from Sydney to Melbourne, from Melbourne to Brisbane or from Adelaide to Sydney—it probably averages around an hour and a half. But I would say those international flights would average eight to 12 hours. So our emissions from our international flights will be far, far greater than our emissions from our domestic flights. So, again, I ask members of the Labor Party: if they want to pursue their 45 per cent emissions reduction target—that economy-wrecking, job-destroying emissions reduction target—what is their policy on international aviation? How many Australians will they want to deny the right to fly overseas?

One of the great privileges of being an Australian today is the opportunity that Australians have to travel overseas and see the world and to experience different cultures and different lands. Members of the Labor Party, with their emissions reduction target, want to take that opportunity away from Australians. They should explain their policy in full. How will you reduce your emissions? What are your plans? How many fewer Australians will have the right and the opportunity to travel overseas under your reckless, economy-destroying, 45 per cent emissions reduction target? I bet that we'll hear nothing from them, because if they explain their policies, if they let Australians know the harm that they are going to inflict on them, the rights that they are going to take away from them, the Labor Party will be consigned to electoral history. So they'll fudge it. They'll continue to talk about feel-good numbers and they'll continue to rant and rave, as we have seen.

This is a fantastic opportunity. This bill gives every member of the Labor Party a chance to stand up, either at the dispatch box or at their seat in this House, and explain to the Australian public how many Australians they want to deny the right to fly, domestically and internationally. Because that is exactly what their policy is—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Andrews) interjecting—

We hope, Deputy Speaker! I will leave my remarks there to make sure that I give the members sitting on the other side of the House ample opportunity to explain those things to the Australian public.

Mr Craig Kelly interjecting—

See this speech in context